To everything there is a season, or so it is said. And that includes grilling. Not that you won't venture out on a cooler evening to barbecue some chicken, but autumn is here – almost – and the desire to dine al fresco is waning along with the summer weather. What to do? Well, host a dinner designed to highlight the transition from outdoors to in, the transition of our gardens from green to gold and orange. Our menu du jour — for eight of our nearest and dearest — has quasi-Southwestern undertones.

A few months ago, a senior at Amherst College in Massachusetts (where my spouse teaches) asked if I would meet with her to discuss culinary careers. I love to mentor young people, so we set up a coffee date. After talking to this 22-year-old, I was so impressed with her passion and determination that I asked if she would like to work with me as an assistant to see what producing a column on entertaining such as this one involves. For several weeks, Natanya chopped and sliced food and washed dishes while I tested and retested recipes, then arranged and photographed them.

A few months ago, a senior at Amherst College in Massachusetts (where my spouse teaches) asked if I would meet with her to discuss culinary careers. I love to mentor young people, so we set up a coffee date. After talking to this 22-year-old, I was so impressed with her passion and determination that I asked if she would like to work with me as an assistant to see what producing a column on entertaining such as this one involves. For several weeks, Natanya chopped and sliced food and washed dishes while I tested and retested recipes, then arranged and photographed them.

The Complete Whole Grains Cookbook By Judith Finlayson Betty Crocker Whole Grains Easy Everyday Recipes Wiley Publishing / 2007 / $19.95 This is a practical book that would be particularly useful to a novice cook who's trying to eat better. Pluses include a user-friendly explanation of how to decipher information about grains on supermarket labels; nutritional information with each recipe; and a heading that tells you how many whole-grain servings are in a serving of each recipe. The Savory Millet and Potato Stew we tried made a quick, basic, one-pot meal that was very low in fat. kate.

I know we're supposed to minimize consumption of high fat and cured meats, like bacon. However, I can't imagine not having an occasional taste of good bacon. I emphasize good because much of the bacon in our markets is mass-produced and lacks the depth of flavor that you get from small artisan smokehouses. Here is a recipe that celebrates good bacon. Bucatini With Bacon and Pecorino Cheese Bucatini is spaghetti-shaped pasta, but a little thicker and hollow in the center. You could certainly use regular spaghetti of good quality, too. All kinds of variations are possible here, including the addition of some finely chopped ripe tomatoes, thinly sliced and sauteed onions or whatever you have on hand.

Traveling can expose us to foods in a way difficult to duplicate when enjoying the same dishes at home. When traveling with family last year in Italy, my teen-age nephew and niece struggled sometimes to find something on the menu that they would like. In Florence, my nephew asked for pasta fazool. No, they didn't have that, and that's not how they say it up north (pasta fazool is a Southern dialect name for Pasta e Fagioli, or Pasta and Beans). So this dish is for him. It has myriad variations from all over Italy.

What was good at the 34th annual fancy food show at the javits center in Manhattan? Lots. I spent July 9 trawling the aisles of this annual three-day specialty-food extravaganza. According to its organizers, the show's 2,200 exhibitors displayed 160,000 items. (Though it should be noted that a good 3,000 or 4,000 of them appeared to be decorative baskets.) A panel of judges, representing specialty retailers from all over the country, was charged with the task of singling out 21 products for recognition.

To everything there is a season, or so it is said. And that includes grilling. Not that you won't venture out on a cooler evening to barbecue some chicken, but autumn is here – almost – and the desire to dine al fresco is waning along with the summer weather. What to do? Well, host a dinner designed to highlight the transition from outdoors to in, the transition of our gardens from green to gold and orange. Our menu du jour — for eight of our nearest and dearest — has quasi-Southwestern undertones.

By Elizabeth Large and Elizabeth Large,SUN RESTAURANT CRITIC | February 17, 2002

Razorback's Food: ** 1/2 stars Service: *** stars Atmosphere: ** stars Where: Dulaney Valley Shopping Center, Towson Hours: Open every day for lunch and dinner Prices: Appetizers, $5.95-$9.95; main courses, $9.95-$24.95 Call: 410-821-9550 The new Razorback's Raw Bar & Grill in Towson fills a particular niche: It offers ribs for yuppies. This is not a bad thing unless you're a purist about your barbecue - that is, if you believe that real barbecue can only come from a shack with a woodpile out back.

The Complete Whole Grains Cookbook By Judith Finlayson Betty Crocker Whole Grains Easy Everyday Recipes Wiley Publishing / 2007 / $19.95 This is a practical book that would be particularly useful to a novice cook who's trying to eat better. Pluses include a user-friendly explanation of how to decipher information about grains on supermarket labels; nutritional information with each recipe; and a heading that tells you how many whole-grain servings are in a serving of each recipe. The Savory Millet and Potato Stew we tried made a quick, basic, one-pot meal that was very low in fat. kate.

Traveling can expose us to foods in a way difficult to duplicate when enjoying the same dishes at home. When traveling with family last year in Italy, my teen-age nephew and niece struggled sometimes to find something on the menu that they would like. In Florence, my nephew asked for pasta fazool. No, they didn't have that, and that's not how they say it up north (pasta fazool is a Southern dialect name for Pasta e Fagioli, or Pasta and Beans). So this dish is for him. It has myriad variations from all over Italy.

What was good at the 34th annual fancy food show at the javits center in Manhattan? Lots. I spent July 9 trawling the aisles of this annual three-day specialty-food extravaganza. According to its organizers, the show's 2,200 exhibitors displayed 160,000 items. (Though it should be noted that a good 3,000 or 4,000 of them appeared to be decorative baskets.) A panel of judges, representing specialty retailers from all over the country, was charged with the task of singling out 21 products for recognition.

By Elizabeth Large and Elizabeth Large,SUN RESTAURANT CRITIC | February 17, 2002

Razorback's Food: ** 1/2 stars Service: *** stars Atmosphere: ** stars Where: Dulaney Valley Shopping Center, Towson Hours: Open every day for lunch and dinner Prices: Appetizers, $5.95-$9.95; main courses, $9.95-$24.95 Call: 410-821-9550 The new Razorback's Raw Bar & Grill in Towson fills a particular niche: It offers ribs for yuppies. This is not a bad thing unless you're a purist about your barbecue - that is, if you believe that real barbecue can only come from a shack with a woodpile out back.

I know we're supposed to minimize consumption of high fat and cured meats, like bacon. However, I can't imagine not having an occasional taste of good bacon. I emphasize good because much of the bacon in our markets is mass-produced and lacks the depth of flavor that you get from small artisan smokehouses. Here is a recipe that celebrates good bacon. Bucatini With Bacon and Pecorino Cheese Bucatini is spaghetti-shaped pasta, but a little thicker and hollow in the center. You could certainly use regular spaghetti of good quality, too. All kinds of variations are possible here, including the addition of some finely chopped ripe tomatoes, thinly sliced and sauteed onions or whatever you have on hand.

Tradition.It's a big word this time of year, one that carries a lot of emotional weight. It seems almost everyone spends part of life trying to escape it, and another part trying to embrace it.But for Joyce Goldstein, San Francisco chef, restaurateur and cookbook author, nowhere is tradition more compelling than in cuisine: "Classic dishes are classic for a good reason -- people remember what they taste like."In 12 years in the restaurant business -- she's chef-proprietor of Square One, a noted spot on a park at the edge of the city's financial district -- she has seen tradition take some hits: "I've seen what's happened to the menu, all the sort of sensationalist, weird combinations, things being thrown together, where the menu looks the same almost all the way around the country, . . . and what it makes for is a lot of unmemorable food."

Joyce Goldstein has written Solo Suppers for a genuine, if small, demographic -- childless, unmarried adults who are experienced cooks, and for whom cooking dinner for themselves on a weeknight is a form of entertainment. Granted, several of the more than 150 recipes in Solo Suppers (Chronicle Books, 2003, $19.95) can be prepared in advance by even a beginning cook and finished at dinnertime in a manner of minutes. Several marinades fit this category, as do pantry sauces that can turn simple fish or meat into a restaurant-quality meal.

Tradition.It's a big word this time of year, one that carries a lot of emotional weight. It seems almost everyone spends part of life trying to escape it, and another part trying to embrace it.But for Joyce Goldstein, San Francisco chef, restaurateur and cookbook author, nowhere is tradition more compelling than in cuisine: "Classic dishes are classic for a good reason -- people remember what they taste like."In 12 years in the restaurant business -- she's chef-proprietor of Square One, a noted spot on a park at the edge of the city's financial district -- she has seen tradition take some hits: "I've seen what's happened to the menu, all the sort of sensationalist, weird combinations, things being thrown together, where the menu looks the same almost all the way around the country, . . . and what it makes for is a lot of unmemorable food."